V-bottom clinker-built boat



July 24, 1956 YATES 2,755,493

V-BOTTOM CLINKER-BUILT BOAT Filed Oct. 6, 1953 //\/L/E TUF GEORGE: YATES United State :1:

V-BOTTOM CLINKER-BUILT BOAT George Yates, Eeaverton, Oreg., assignor, by mesne as signments, to Walter H. Steele, Portland, Oreg.

Application October 6, 1953, Serial No. 384,377

1 Claim. (Cl. 96)

This invention relates generally to boats and particularly to a V-bottom clinker-built boat.

The main object of this invention is to build a wooden boat of the clinker type and having a V-bottom and possessing all of the advantages of the clinker built boat without including the objections commonly found in such boats.

The second object is to build a boat of the clinker built type in a manner that the seams, which are ordinarily the lines of weakness and leakage, now become lines of increased strength and are continually water-tight whether or not the boat has been out of the water for a considerable period of time.

A third object is to devise a method of building clinker built boats so that their strength and appearance may be enhanced and in which it will be possible to employ a V-bottom without the expenditure of an objectionable amount of time.

I accomplish these and other objects in the manner set forth in the following specifications as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a small scale elevation of a side of the boat.

Fig. 2 is a section along the line 12-2 in Fig. 1 at a larger scale.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view taken along a clinker seam with parts broken away in section.

Like numbers of reference refer to the same or similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the side planks and bottom plank 11 are made of a marine plywood, the plies of which are joined by a waterproof glue. The planks 10 and 11 are shaped to conform to the lines of the boat when secured in place. The novelty resides in the clinker joint where two planks 10 or 11 overlap, where the parts are joined by a waterproof glue 12 and temporarily held by staples 13, whose function it is to merely clamp the parts together until the glue is set, after which they serve no useful purposeunlike the clincher nail of the usual form of clinker-built boats, in which nails are always depended upon to hold the planks in the desired relationship.

The position of the keel 14 and keel blocks 15 is also indicated. The keel 14 is held to the block 15 by means of screws 16.

Chines 17 are secured to chine strips 18 by means of screws 19. Bottom frames 20 have horizontal top edges extending transversely between opposite chine strips 18 and flush with the top edge of the strips 18. The frames 20 have their under sides shaped to fit the V-bottom of the boat and the lower edges of the frames 20 are offset to receive the various planks 11. A chine plate 21 rests on top of the chine strips 18 and frames 20. On the plate 21 rest the short side frames 22, upon which are mounted the seat rails 23 on the inner edges of which are secured the rail aprons 24.

To the topmost planks 10 is secured the built-up rail 25.

Now it will be observed that, while the various elements referred to are similar to those found in the conventional clinker-built craft, the resulting boat is far removed therefrom, both as to appearance, sturdiness, and freedom from leakage when kept out of the water for any considerable length of time.

The seam in a clinker-built boat, which is the line of weakness, now becomes a line of greatest strength, and the seams are no longer mere seams but rather integral parts of thickened, reinforcing members between each adjacent row of planks 10 or 11 extending the full length of the boat.

As previously stated, the present constmction also makes possible building a V-bottom clinker-built boat, which was hitherto not done since clinker-built always means straight or slowly curving sides. By using ply- Wood, there is no danger of the edges splitting away as is ordinarily the case when nails do all of the holding, while with my construction the entire overlapping area becomes a bond instead of depending on the clincher nail.

In the practice of my method, I prefer to build the boat around an inverted form, starting at the keel blocks 15 and fastening the first plank 11 in place. Obviously, all planks requiring shaping to permit them to follow the contour of the boat will be shaped to suit before being applied to the boat. The planks 11 are applied in successive order, adhesive being applied to one of the contacting faces and the entire plank bent into position and tacked or stapled to hold the plank until the adhesive sets. When the chine 17 is reached, the abrupt angle is obtained, not by overlapping, but by butting the edges, as shown in Fig. 2. The planks nearest the chine strips 18 are secured thereto by glue and screws 26. The assembled boat is then treated with a filler to exclude moisture.

I claim:

A clinker-built, V-bottom boat comprising transverse V-bottom frames having steps formed in the bottom edges thereof to receive bottom planking, a plurality of plywood bottom planks fastened to said steps, a plurality of plywood side planks, said bottom and side planks overlapping each other and having their overlapping portions glued together to form reinforcing ribs along the clinker lines extending the full length of the boat, the lowermost side plank meeting the uppermost bottom plank in a butt joint, a chine strip on each side of the boat within the angle formed by said butt joint, said bottom frames having horizontal top edges extending between said chine strips on opposite sides of the boat, and chines on said lowermost side planks above the bottom planks and secured to said chine strips.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,885,198 Hale Nov. 1, 1932 2,110,512 Sawyer Mar. 8, 1938 2,418,636 Harasty Apr. 8, 1947 2,592,999 Bartenfeld Apr. 15, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 455,088 Great Britain Oct. 29, 1935 OTHER REFERENCES Boat Building (Chapelle), published by W. W. Norton, Inc., New York. (Pages 480, 481 and 457 relied on.) 

